SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

[Saltbush Bill]

JustinNZ.....thats some nice feedback.............glad your enjoying it that much......Ive put some of my older aged stuff up against some of the better quality commercial rums in blind tests and always come in around the middle of the pack.
Some of those bottles are costing about $70-$120 Au a bottle ....I don't even want to try to compete with that shit .....my bottles are costing me about $12+ a bottle from my calculations.
The strange part is that I'm starting to wander away from Rums and heading down the path of Single Malt "Scotch Style Whiskeys".....we shall see where that leads.

[lest1]

JustinNZ.....thats some nice feedback.............glad your enjoying it that much......Ive put some of my older aged stuff up against some of the better quality commercial rums in blind tests and always come in around the middle of the pack.
Some of those bottles are costing about $70-$120 Au a bottle ....I don't even want to try to compete with that shit .....my bottles are costing me about $12+ a bottle from my calculations.
The strange part is that I'm starting to wander away from Rums and heading down the path of Single Malt "Scotch Style Whiskeys".....we shall see where that leads.

id love to see a post of what your up to with the single malt , everything else you have done is worth a read

Cheers SBB

[sadie33]

can you use the same amount of ingredients listed for the 8 gal ferment, but only add enough water for a 6.5 gal ferment? That's the biggest bucket I have.

[Steve Broady]

Scale it down, Sadie. That’s what I did. Just do the math to figure out how much rum/water you need for any given volume. I keep my notes in a spreadsheet, which means it’s super simple to plug in the numbers and let the computer do the math for me.

[sadie33]

Scale it down, Sadie. That’s what I did. Just do the math to figure out how much rum/water you need for any given volume. I keep my notes in a spreadsheet, which means it’s super simple to plug in the numbers and let the computer do the math for me.

I tried that. I took the 2.1 gal of molasses and divided by 8 (his size ferment) which came to .26 so I x that by 5 (my size ferment) and got 1.31 gal of molasses.
But when I went back and looked at the recipe, he doesn't use 8 gallons of water, just an 8 gal bucket. so my math is wrong. It also doesn't tell you HOW much H2O total, just fill up to the 6.6 gal mark. So I could subtract the already added water and do the math, but the molasses is in there, so it's not all water and again my math would be wrong.

So I was stumped. I thought someone was going to tell me to buy a bigger bucket , which I might do.

[Steve Broady]

Your math isn’t wrong. He’s using an 8 gallon fermenter, you’re using 5. Thus you need 5/8 of the recipe, or 1.3 gallons of molasses, and then a total volume of 4.5 gallons in your fermenter. (7.3 x 5/8).

Here’s the spreadsheet I use, in a 6 gallon fermenter.

I took the time to figure out the density of my molasses, because I found it easier to measure by weight than volume. Hopefully this helps some.

[sadie33]

Your math isn’t wrong. He’s using an 8 gallon fermenter, you’re using 5. Thus you need 5/8 of the recipe, or 1.3 gallons of molasses, and then a total volume of 4.5 gallons in your fermenter. (7.3 x 5/8).

Here’s the spreadsheet I use, in a 6 gallon fermenter.
670C3B8D-59AC-4C3B-AC31-13518E9F1CE6.jpeg

I took the time to figure out the density of my molasses, because I found it easier to measure by weight than volume. Hopefully this helps some.

that does help a ton, thanks.

Should I nick a piece off my vit B and consider that 5/8 or just leave it whole?

[Sporacle]

Sadie, using metric helps. For every 1 litre of mollases add 2.5 of water (or on your subsequent ferments the amount of dunder recommended and water)
I'd chuck the tablet in whole

[sadie33]

Sadie, using metric helps. For every 1 litre of mollases add 2.5 of water (or on your subsequent ferments the amount of dunder recommended and water)
I'd chuck the tablet in whole

thanks

[Saltbush Bill]

Sadie, using metric helps. For every 1 litre of mollases add 2.5 of water (or on your subsequent ferments the amount of dunder recommended and water)
I'd chuck the tablet in whole

[shadylane]

Should I nick a piece off my vit B and consider that 5/8 or just leave it whole?

Here's my secret.
Fill the bottle of vitamins with water.
In a little while, everything is liquid.
When needed, give the bottle a shake to stir and pour some into the fermenter.
The amount doesn't have to be precise, a little is enough, and it takes alot to be too much.

In the fridge, the bottle will last a couple months or more.

[sadie33]

Should I nick a piece off my vit B and consider that 5/8 or just leave it whole?

Here's my secret.
Fill the bottle of vitamins with water.
In a little while, everything is liquid.
When needed, give the bottle a shake to stir and pour some into the fermenter.
The amount doesn't have to be precise, a little is enough, and it takes alot to be too much.

In the fridge, the bottle will last a couple months or more.

That's a good idea! but I think I am only making a batch or 2 before I break for the summer...but come winter I will be making more and I just might use that tip.

[sadie33]

I did it!! I got 5 gals fizziling away, sounds like cola. I thought it would bubble up and foam first then settle down and fizz.

I put my 5 gal pail of molasses next to the fire place all night to make it easy to pour. I can't believe how simple, easy and quick this was. I was saving it for next fall because I thought it was tricky.

I ordered two 7.9 fermenting buckets yesterday. I hope they are big enough for the 8 gal ferment to use up the rest of my molasses.

My house would be totally clean right now if it weren't for stillin' stuff. I have 2 cases of my mason jars on the floor in the kitchen, my 5 gal bucket with my meters, tape, spare parts etc, my 5 gal still, my 5 gal ss pot, I got kegs on every counter, a bag of corn in the living room, a bucket of molasses somewhere in between and 3 fermenters by the fire place. At least with my sewing room I can shut the door if things get too bad! Guess I'll go vaccuum.

[sadie33]

Well ,did this recipe as a result of the users request.
Fermented well
4 days total at 100f
So what abv do you guys usually get.
Seems that I am at about 4.5-5% abv
How's that
Started at 1.085 and done at about 1.045
Is this what y'all usually get

I know the SG can be off with the SBB, but I have about the same results. It's been 3 days at 80-82*F. My OG 1.09 and today it was 1.045 BUT I forgot to slide my bucket closer to the wood stove last night and it went down to 72*F.

I don't hear or see any fizzing and it's not sweet at all. Should I let it warm back up to 80* and see if it fizzles? Either way I'm not going to run it for a bit, I'm just curious as this would be my fastest ferment.

thanks

[Archee72]

If it tastes sour it’s probably done

[rolling]

Started my wash several weeks ago now, it finished up well, but it got cold and life got in the way. It's in a 30 gallon trash barrel with a lid and air locks, looks to be great! I sealed it up and let the cold weather refrigerate it by turning the heat off in my shop. Sitting at about 40°F. now. Taking the day tomorrow to still it. Just finished radiation treatment for my prostrate cancer, this will be a special one! Need to take more time off to do this.

[Saltbush Bill]

As long as it tastes sour it will be fine.....relax and enjoy your day ...hope all go's well with the Rum and the prostrate.

[SomeoneOtherThanThat]

Hello. Just wanted to share my experience running this recipe. I followed it exactly as written and after letting it settle ended up with about 6 gallons. I ran 6 stripping runs in my Airstill and collected each of them until the total jar was 30% ABV. This left me with about 1.75 gallons of low wines. I did my first spirit run. 50ml removed for fores. Then into 18 jars 100ml each. I quit collecting when the jars hit 10% ABV. Jars 1-4 were added to the feints jar. I kept jars 5-12, which together were 73% ABV. Jars 13-18 were also added to the feints jar. I didn’t quite have enough low wines to do another full gallon spirit run so I added some of the feints and water to make another full gallon at 30% ABV. Kept the same jars as the first run.

I proofed about 200ml down to 55% ABV and put this into my “library”. I also proofed 1 quart down to 63% ABV and put a small chunk of medium toast white oak. The rum that was left had a pineapple slice, clove and raisins added to it. Can’t wait to see how all of these turn out after sitting for a bit.

I saved a gallon of dunder and all the stuff that settled in the bucket. Both of these are in the fridge waiting for Generation 2 to start. Thank you for this recipe!

[Wildcats]

Hello. Just wanted to share my experience running this recipe. I followed it exactly as written and after letting it settle ended up with about 6 gallons. I ran 6 stripping runs in my Airstill and collected each of them until the total jar was 30% ABV. This left me with about 1.75 gallons of low wines. I did my first spirit run. 50ml removed for fores. Then into 18 jars 100ml each. I quit collecting when the jars hit 10% ABV. Jars 1-4 were added to the feints jar. I kept jars 5-12, which together were 73% ABV. Jars 13-18 were also added to the feints jar. I didn’t quite have enough low wines to do another full gallon spirit run so I added some of the feints and water to make another full gallon at 30% ABV. Kept the same jars as the first run.

I proofed about 200ml down to 55% ABV and put this into my “library”. I also proofed 1 quart down to 63% ABV and put a small chunk of medium toast white oak. The rum that was left had a pineapple slice, clove and raisins added to it. Can’t wait to see how all of these turn out after sitting for a bit.

I saved a gallon of dunder and all the stuff that settled in the bucket. Both of these are in the fridge waiting for Generation 2 to start. Thank you for this recipe!

Sounds like you are giving that air still a run for it's money. Have fun and stay safe

[sadie33]

Hello. Just wanted to share my experience running this recipe. I followed it exactly as written and after letting it settle ended up with about 6 gallons. I ran 6 stripping runs in my Airstill and collected each of them until the total jar was 30% ABV. This left me with about 1.75 gallons of low wines. I did my first spirit run. 50ml removed for fores. Then into 18 jars 100ml each. I quit collecting when the jars hit 10% ABV. Jars 1-4 were added to the feints jar. I kept jars 5-12, which together were 73% ABV. Jars 13-18 were also added to the feints jar. I didn’t quite have enough low wines to do another full gallon spirit run so I added some of the feints and water to make another full gallon at 30% ABV. Kept the same jars as the first run.

I proofed about 200ml down to 55% ABV and put this into my “library”. I also proofed 1 quart down to 63% ABV and put a small chunk of medium toast white oak. The rum that was left had a pineapple slice, clove and raisins added to it. Can’t wait to see how all of these turn out after sitting for a bit.

I saved a gallon of dunder and all the stuff that settled in the bucket. Both of these are in the fridge waiting for Generation 2 to start. Thank you for this recipe!

This all sounds great. I am hoping to rack mine off into my boiler soon. But right now my honey bear bourbon is in there!

[rolling]

Ran that Radiation Batch, came out well, but it takes all day off of work to do. My 4x4 column will put out about 80% for quite a while, then at the same power it'll slowly sink down to the 60's. I'll make my cuts this weekend, that's the hardest part for me. I might get some help from my daughter. Got another batch going using a couple of gallons of fresh dunder and a 5gl barrel of mol. It's simmering along at a relatively low level, probably take 7 days in the current cooler weather. Fermenter temp is in the high 80'sF. After I run this next batch I'll be getting a 5 gl. used bourbon barrel, that'll be the fourth for my Rum stock. Then it's a waiting game, my oldest is three+ years old now. There's a local outfit that is making molasses Rum with no additives. It's clear so I don't know if it's aged then filtered, or straight, but I like it a lot and it is my go to sipping drink now. I hope my own is as good someday.

[stillby]

Thank you Salt Bush Bill for the recipe and the inspiration. My interest in distillation comes from wanting to make my own rum, so, after a couple of sugar washes and some corn flakes whiskey, today I did it - well sort of.

Because I am located in Europe and we do not grow sugar cane here I ordered 3 canisters of feed grade sugar beet molasses online. Set up the wash according to the recipe, using some backset from my previous corn-flakes whiskey run and bread yeast.

Only when I was all done did I use the forums search function to search for sugar beet molasses and found that, according to others, sugar beet molasses produces a nasty tasting product instead of nice rum! Well it is too late for me now - everything is done: bought, prepared and fermenting away, so wish me luck!
Will follow any advice to rescue it

[Saltbush Bill]

I can only wish you luck stillbilly.
I've never read anything good about beet mollases or the rum made from it.
Personaly I've never tried it as I think it's unavailable in this country.

[LWTCS]

I can only wish you luck stillbilly.
I've never read anything good about beet mollases or the rum made from it.
Personaly I've never tried it as I think it's unavailable in this country.

I had some beet molasses rum that was backsweetened with honey one year back at an ADI event. It was nearly forgettable till you reminded me.
As a rum snob, I was unimpressed.
Though I did empathize with the boot strap craft distilleries being forced to use Washington state sourced ingredients in order to maintain their craft designation.

[stillby]

Thanks SBB - LWTCS: "As a rum snob, I was unimpressed." that actually gives me hope. So maybe I will be able to produce something that will not impress a rum fiend but will still cooperate with some coke and lime juice... I will try

I have since found a local source for blackstrap molasses, so there's my plan B: use the beet rum for neutral and try some proper rum.
Plan A is still to produce a local, european, rum that tastes all right, so lets see.

[Swamptrout]

My oldest stock has just had its 3rd birthday. So delicious. Just in time for an Anzac Day rum & milk

[Saltbush Bill]

Good that your putting it to good use swamptrout, might just join you in one of those.,
Good to see some folk getting some age on this stuff.

[Swamptrout]

i was actually thinking it was 2 years old but checked my notes and noticed it was 3 years on 10th April. 64% abv, SS keg, 7gr per L American & French oak 50/50

[Saltbush Bill]

Have you found that it still seems to be getting better, or has it pretty much "stabilized "
Are you letting it breath a bit from time to time?
Just interested to know as I've little experience of aging long term in staino, mines all in oak barrels.....hence the interrogation ?
I know that by three years mines getting quite smooth and doesn't really resemble what was in the barrel at 18 months - two years.

[LordL]

Thanks SBB - LWTCS: "As a rum snob, I was unimpressed." that actually gives me hope. So maybe I will be able to produce something that will not impress a rum fiend but will still cooperate with some coke and lime juice... I will try

I have since found a local source for blackstrap molasses, so there's my plan B: use the beet rum for neutral and try some proper rum.
Plan A is still to produce a local, european, rum that tastes all right, so lets see.

See if you can get hold of some dark muscovado sugar. It should in practice be dried sugar cane molasses. The can go for between 2.5 -3 EUR per 400grams.. so, not cheap, but I'm going to give this a try, making small batches and add Dunder to every new batch. After the first spirit run, I should have some tails to throw into the next as well!